Mike Smith appeared dazed in the moments after his horse, Bodemeister, was again beaten by Kentucky Derby winner I'll Have Another - this time by a neck in Saturday's Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course . The veteran jockey wore the frozen smile of a man hardly able to fathom what had just transpired. "I swear I don't know how he ran me down, man," Smith said after trainer Bob Baffert approached in the fading sunlight. "You did a good job," the 59-year-old trainer told the 46-year-old jockey, a fellow Hall of Famer and former Preakness winner who recently passed 5,000 career victories.

Bob Baffert , the Hall of Fame trainer of Preakness entry Bayern, hopes his horse has more luck in Baltimore than Bodemeister did at Pimlico two years ago. After winning the Arkansas Derby that year, Bodemeister finished second in both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness. After Bayern won in Arkansas last month, Baffert decided to have him race in the 1-mile Derby trial rather than the 1 ¼-mile Derby. Bayern - named after soccer power Bayern Munich, the favorite club of the horse's owner Kaleem Shah - finished first in the Derby trial with Rosie Napravnik aboard, but he was later disqualified for interference and given second.

Deputed Testamony is 32-years-old. His dark brown coat is shaggy, and his biggest excitement is going into his paddock at Bonita Farm for three or four hours of grazing each day. He is a pensioner, an icon. The oldest living winner of a Triple Crown race. But when Billy Boniface looks at the horse in his paddock, he sees the striking colt that was born and trained at the family farm and raced to victory in the 1983 Preakness - the last horse bred or trained in Maryland to do so. "Oh my gosh, I still get goose bumps when I look at him and remember that day," said Boniface, who was 18 then and had just taken over the breeding operation at the farm.

Bob Baffert strode into the Preakness stakes barn Friday morning, shouting toward Orb's trainer Shug McGaughey loud enough so all could hear. "OK, Shug, I'm here to take away that media spotlight for you," he said. Baffert, indeed, is one of the few people in the sport who could have swiped some of the attention from McGaughey and his heavily favored colt this week . Baffert has won the Preakness five times, and on three occasions he's moved on to Belmont with a chance at the Triple Crown.

Pimlico Race Course officials confirmed Wednesday there will be nine probable starters for Saturday's 138th running of the Preakness with the addition of Govenor Charlie, trained by Bob Baffert, a five-time winner of the race. Baffert had been leaning toward entering the lightly raced colt and gave the final word he would be coming Wednesday. Govenor Charlie is expected to arrive from Churchill Downs in Kentucky sometime on Thursday, according to Mike Gathagan, Pimlico's vice president for communications.

As Kentucky Derby winner I'll Have Another vanned out of Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport with a police escort Monday afternoon, he was greeted by local horse fans trying to make him feel instantly at home. "People were lined up and chanting, 'I'd love another,'" said assistant trainer Jack Sisterson, who accompanied the horse on a flight from Louisville, Ky. "His ears are pricked and he's bobbing his head, 'Yeah, that's me!'" At Pimlico Race Course , cameras from local television stations were lined up along print media to record the arrival of the gorgeous, Doug O'Neill-trained chestnut as he came off the trailer and pranced to his stall.

Bob Baffert , the Hall of Fame trainer of Preakness entry Bayern, hopes his horse has more luck in Baltimore than Bodemeister did at Pimlico two years ago. After winning the Arkansas Derby that year, Bodemeister finished second in both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness. After Bayern won in Arkansas last month, Baffert decided to have him race in the 1-mile Derby trial rather than the 1 ¼-mile Derby. Bayern - named after soccer power Bayern Munich, the favorite club of the horse's owner Kaleem Shah - finished first in the Derby trial with Rosie Napravnik aboard, but he was later disqualified for interference and given second.

It's (mostly) official: Govenor Charlie will run in the Preakness. Maybe. Trainer Bob Baffert told Pimlico officials Tuesday morning that he planned to run the colt, listed as “possible” since skipping the Kentucky Derby. But later in the afternoon he tweeted that the colt wouldn't be confirmed for a Preakness run until he boarded a plane from Louisville on Wednesday. The addition of the Baffert trainee would bring the field to nine and the number of new challengers for Orb to three.

Joel Rosario rode anyway. Upon returning to the jockey's room last May 20, he learned that his brother Marino , a police officer in his native Dominican Republic, had been killed in a motorcycle accident. Creative Cause -- and a chance to ride in his first Preakness -- awaited. Rosario went out to the track. "I just think it was really sad for me," he said Friday morning at Pimlico Race Course. "It was something that really hurt me. " Rosario took Creative Cause out with Bodemeister on the lead, but sagged to third as I'll Have Another won a duel down the stretch.

By David Selig, Jeff Barker and Sandra McKee, The Baltimore Sun | May 19, 2012

They might not have rivaled the revelry in the winner's circle after Saturday's Preakness, but the lines in front of the tellers' windows at Pimlico Race Course were abuzz with fans shouting in excitement about their winning tickets. Rick Digrigoli , of Hoover, Ala., left the window folding bills into his wallet, the result of an exacta bet on top two finishers I'll Have Another and Bodemeister. Digrigoli has been coming to the Preakness with friends for 17 years, but his win of about $46 on a $5 bet wasn't the result of experience.

Joel Rosario rode anyway. Upon returning to the jockey's room last May 20, he learned that his brother Marino , a police officer in his native Dominican Republic, had been killed in a motorcycle accident. Creative Cause -- and a chance to ride in his first Preakness -- awaited. Rosario went out to the track. "I just think it was really sad for me," he said Friday morning at Pimlico Race Course. "It was something that really hurt me. " Rosario took Creative Cause out with Bodemeister on the lead, but sagged to third as I'll Have Another won a duel down the stretch.

The top local entrant for Friday's 89th running of the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico took one wrong step on Thursday and had to be scratched. Walkwithapurpose, a Maryland-bred owned by Sagamore Farm in Glyndon, was expected to be one of the top contenders in the $500,000 Grade II race run at a mile and one-eighth for 3-year-old-fillies. Thursday afternoon, however, the Sagamore Farm filly had to drop out of the race after bruising her foot earlier in the day during her final gallop on the track at Pimlico in preparation for Friday's race.

The one-liners never stop when you're around Team O'Neill. Sometimes all that's missing is a brick wall, a stool and a microphone stand. Take the other day, for instance. Jockey Kevin Krigger has Goldencents out for his regular morning gallop in preparation for Saturday's Preakness. Trainer Doug O'Neill and his crew are watching it from the press box high atop Pimlico Race Course . As Krigger walks the Santa Anita Derby winner onto the track, the jockey looks up and waves.

Pimlico Race Course officials confirmed Wednesday there will be nine probable starters for Saturday's 138th running of the Preakness with the addition of Govenor Charlie, trained by Bob Baffert, a five-time winner of the race. Baffert had been leaning toward entering the lightly raced colt and gave the final word he would be coming Wednesday. Govenor Charlie is expected to arrive from Churchill Downs in Kentucky sometime on Thursday, according to Mike Gathagan, Pimlico's vice president for communications.

It's (mostly) official: Govenor Charlie will run in the Preakness. Maybe. Trainer Bob Baffert told Pimlico officials Tuesday morning that he planned to run the colt, listed as “possible” since skipping the Kentucky Derby. But later in the afternoon he tweeted that the colt wouldn't be confirmed for a Preakness run until he boarded a plane from Louisville on Wednesday. The addition of the Baffert trainee would bring the field to nine and the number of new challengers for Orb to three.

Doug O'Neill is back in Baltimore, this year to spoil a Triple Crown instead of take the next step toward winning one. A year after bringing I'll Have Another to Baltimore just two days after winning the Kentucky Derby, then frantically absorbing as much of Baltimore as he and his crew could before winning the race, the Southern California trainer arrived Sunday to join this year's entry, Goldencents. The mood around the same Barn D stalls he occupied last year was more workmanlike Monday, even after O'Neill watched the disappointing 17th-place Derby finisher roar down the Pimlico stretch under jockey Kevin Krigger.

Doug O'Neill is back in Baltimore, this year to spoil a Triple Crown instead of take the next step toward winning one. A year after bringing I'll Have Another to Baltimore just two days after winning the Kentucky Derby, then frantically absorbing as much of Baltimore as he and his crew could before winning the race, the Southern California trainer arrived Sunday to join this year's entry, Goldencents. The mood around the same Barn D stalls he occupied last year was more workmanlike Monday, even after O'Neill watched the disappointing 17th-place Derby finisher roar down the Pimlico stretch under jockey Kevin Krigger.

Bob Baffert strode into the Preakness stakes barn Friday morning, shouting toward Orb's trainer Shug McGaughey loud enough so all could hear. "OK, Shug, I'm here to take away that media spotlight for you," he said. Baffert, indeed, is one of the few people in the sport who could have swiped some of the attention from McGaughey and his heavily favored colt this week . Baffert has won the Preakness five times, and on three occasions he's moved on to Belmont with a chance at the Triple Crown.

Even when he's not here, they can't stop talking about Bodemeister. Gutsy runner-up to I'll Have Another at the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, the colt was never in serious consideration for the Belmont. But his stablemate could finish what Bodemeister couldn't. Paynter, last seen breezing past the field in a race on the Preakness undercard, is the 8-1 fourth choice on the morning line and will start the Belmont from post position No. 9. "[Trainer] Bob Baffert , from Day 1, thought Paynter was the better horse," owner Ahmed Zayat said.

Two days after Kentucky Derby winner I'll Have Another's thrilling win over Bodemeister under sunny skies and in front of a packed house, Maryland Jockey Club president Tom Chuckas pronounced the 137th running of the Preakness a rousing success. "I couldn't be happier," he said Monday. "From the standpoint of attendance, we had 121,000. We wagered about $80 million. The best part of this is we had very few problems. ... I received more compliments today and yesterday from the public, many e-mails, many phone calls.